I can't hear you when I'm reading.

Don’t chickens look like boats when they sit like this? You could put this bad boy on a lake, crank the motor, and off he’d putter. Color him yellow and he’d be a great rubber ducky.

Caesar is our teenaged Light Sussex rooster. He hasn’t yet crowed, but he has shown some inclination of late to dominance. He flares his neck feathers like a cobra and has a good stare-down with whichever chicken has just walked by.

In general, though (and so far) he’s been a gentle giant. We all adore him, and watch in near disbelief as he gets bigger and bigger.

It’s my birthday, and despite being old enough to shun its celebration, I am happy to be around.

So I’m following AJSnow’s example and paying it forward with three small but heartfelt handmade gifts for the first three commenters today.

Okay, don’t laugh too loud! I don’t have three readers! So I’ll give any leftover gifts to anybody who wanders into my path.

Here’s the Crafty Pay It Forward, as AJSnow wrote it:

I am participating in a little crafty pay it forward campaign. I have been super excited about doing this and can’t wait to see who I get to craft for! “I promise to send something handmade to the first 3 people who leave a comment here.” If you have a blog, post this again or if you don’t blog simply send 3 handmade things to 3 lucky people. They do not have to be extravagant, a simple handwritten letter works in my book!

Thank you, Embroidiva, for the idea, and for sharing your lovely work with the world. You make blogging a Good Thing.

How many dolls can fit in a set of matryoshkas? According to wikipedia, several dozen. Wow. They must be either very thinly walled or graduate into a very big size.

These felt dolls are from Karen De Nardi’s pattern, aptly named “Matryoshka Dolls,” in Fa la la la Felt: 45 Handmade Holiday Decorations. I’d like to make a whole bunch more of them, although probably not in sizes larger or smaller than these (the smallest is 1.5 inches, the largest 4.25). I can’t make smaller ones, and larger ones would look wonky on the tree.

A traditional Christmas bell, with snowflakes and beads. The pattern is “Silver Bells” by Amanda Carestio, which features buttons instead of embroidery. I’m not good at picking out buttons, so I did something different.

“Silver Bells” sounds so pretty that I had to look up the song. Unfortunately the lyrics are unremarkable:

Silver bells, silver bells,

It’s Christmas time in the city

Ring-a-ling, hear them sing

Soon it will be Christmas day.

I was hoping for some onomatopoetic play on the “s” sound and short vowels in “silver” and “bells.” “Sing” is nice, but “ring-a-ling” doesn’t cut it for me. Oh well.

These little critter portraits designed by Cathy Gaubert are the cutest things and fun to make. I may cut down the outer circles a bit, or not. Meanwhile, the colors and the critters’ little faces make me happy.

creativity

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Profits and/or the Lack Thereof

I provide links to amazon.com in my blog. Theoretically I could make a profit if someone clicks on a link and then buys the book or product. Since this has never happened, rest assured I am not raking in money off unsuspecting readers. It's simply an easy way to provide further information about stuff I like and that you might, too.